Stable memories encoded in transient networks

What is it about?

In a recent series of publications, we proposed a computational model of hippocampal functions and demonstrated that a network of hippocampal cell assemblies can accurately encode a spatial representation (a topological map) of the environment. However, no previous models, including our own, incorporated a key feature of the physiological cell assemblies: their instability. In the current manuscript, we demonstrate that a stable topological representation of the environment can emerge in a constantly rewiring network of transient cell assemblies. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of this effect, which, we believe, is important not only for our understanding of the hippocampal memory functions. The fact that the effect is identified using minimal assumptions and a rather universal mathematical approach implies that the discovered phenomenon (existence of a stable topological map encoded by transient neuronal network) is actually generic.

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